Thursday, May 21, 2015

Hello Haircut





When I was a child in the 1960s my mother made me have short hair. I begged for long hair. I wore scarves over my head to pretend I had long hair. I covetted the long hair of various beautiful girls who seemed like princesses to me. I hated being called a boy - for some reason I was made to wear trousers aswell when I yearned to be more feminine in dresses and skirts.




The title of this post refers to how my dad would greet us on returning from work and seeing we'd had haircuts would exclaim, "Hello Haircut!"





The line was that when I could look after my hair myself (i.e. brush it properly) I could grow it long. I passed the hairbrishing test at about 6 years old and never looked back. I had the longest hair it would grow to until age 15 when I had it cut short on a whim. Came out of the hairdresser and crying and didn't go back until I was about 45.

Thinking about it in later years I assumed it was because short hair was 'in' in the 1960s. Think Twiggy and that pixie look. And I thought maybe my mother couldn't be bothered with doing our hair every morning. Though I didn't think that was a good enough reason.

When I had my daughter I swore I would never make her suffer short hair. She loved her long hair and was always measuring it against her back to see how long it was. But oh the tangles in the morning. Oh the fights over getting those tanlges out. I was beginning to understand.




However, the final straw was the lice. All the kids have lice here. When it gets so bad we have a classwide de-licing night when the whole class is asked to do a teatment and comb them out. We have regular discussions on fb about the best way to de-louse. No one wants to use harsh chemicals. There's no point in expensive treatments as one loose strand of hair and it's like open borders and free passage into the UK. At the height of the season we sometimes admit that combing out with the fine-toothed comb and lashings of conditioner is in fact only population control rather than lice genocide.

In the end neither of us could stand the combing out every b*&%dy night and the constant scratching. So, reader, with DD's permission, I cut her hair.

It looks great. She has the perfect hair that everyone wants - wavy but not too thick or frizzy. I wasn't allowed to take photos but I managed to sneak a few shots. We still have to comb out regulalry but it's so much easier and so few tangles that it takes a fraction of the time.

And when I told my mum she said, "why do you think I made you have short hair for so long?" I was amazed. I don't remember anyone having lice when I was a child in London. Lice was a throwback to Victorian street urchins. Sure we were checked sometimes at school by Nitty Nora the Flea Explorer, but no one expected her fnd anything. But apparently, there was lice. It was such a shameful thing that if anyone had it, it was a big big secret. Lol, here it's just a way of life.



16 comments:

  1. Really looks good on her. Unfortunately lice are still a way of life for many here in the uk as no funding for Nitty Nora's in schools so no shameful letters home to keep it under control.

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    1. I honestly never came accross lice in England as a pupil and later as a teacher. I was sheltered indeed.

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  2. She looks very pretty with short hair too! I was glad to be able to cut DD1s hair for similar reasons...

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  3. Thank you. She actually loves it and the curry combing routine is so much quicker now.

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  4. Now I need to tell the sad story of my life, that my hair has never grown below the tops of my shoulders. Just never grows any longer. I've done research and it seems it must be genetic. So, like you, I never stood in the way of my girls having long hair (they have better genes). Never had to deal with lice, thank goodness.

    Her hair is not too short at all, the cut really suits her.

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    1. I have a friend who can only have short hair - it's very thick and curly and just grows up and out. All her daughters had compulasary long hair thoughour their childhoods. We compensate where we can eh?

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  5. From Margie in Toronto - You bring back so many memories! It was the same when I was a kid - no long hair until you could look after it yourself - then when I was about 13 the Mia Farrow & Twiggy pixie cuts came into vogue I made the mistake of going to my mom's hairdresser who decided I'd look great with this style and cut off all my hair! I told my mom I wasn't going back to school until it grew out - but of course within the month umpteen others had cut their hair and I was a trendsetter!
    I remember the school nurse checking for lice but I never actually knew anyone who had them as a kid (and of course it was very hush hush)! Nowadays it seems to be rampant here as well and the mom's at work talk about it all the time - it's a constant battle.
    Your daughter has gorgeous hair and her cut is just lovely. Good luck with the battle.

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    1. Thank you - with the shorter hair we also now do a quick curry coming in the morning while she's brushing her teeth. #multitasking

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  6. Hello haircut indeed! Your girl looks so grown up and sophisticated, as only a 6 yo can, with her new hair-do. Love it!
    And you brought back such memories of horrendously 'traumatic' haircuts when I was a kid. I had hair down to my waist and I never wanted it cut. My dad insisted and brought me to have it completely shorn off. I cried. Buckets. For weeks. So cruel! I've never had short hair since....

    PS Thanks for your great comment over on mine and your excellent point about TV drug-awareness campaigns. I updated my post to include a point I had intended to make but forgot as a result!

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    1. Another friends on fb wrote about how her two girlfriends came to pick her up for synagogue one Saturday morning and she told them sorry, I can't go, my hair's gone frizzy. So may of us have hair traumeas in our past.

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  7. She looks lovely - I had prided myself that none of my kids had lice throughout primary - buddy starts reception and wham! He gets it. He now has a very short hair cut and I'm hoping that keeps them at bay. It must be dreadful having to do all the combing all the time - it was bad enough for the week with my daughter as she then caught them x

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    1. It's not just the combing out, it's the coaxing her into the bathroom, and trying to get her to stay still while I do it. It could take 10 minutes but she hates it so much she keeps runing off and the whole thing takes ages. And I'm so bored and stressed out shouting at her to come back. The there's the strength and cunning needed to stop her running off again. The hair had to go. It was either the hair or me.

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  8. It does look fabulous, she can rock it that lenght. Not like me, I made made to keep short hair and mine was all fine and yukky. I hate those lice, they make my life miserable but thankfully no-one in this house has any right now!

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    1. I'm not sure how you can ever get rid of them. And even if we do, one head to head with a school friend and we're back at square one. :(

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  9. Oh how funny that you just found that out from your mum! I remember the 'nit nurse' at school and it being shameful if you were caught with them, but they were rarer than they are nowadays. Here, the whole class gets a letter regardless of which child has them - nightmare! Her hair looks lovely :)

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    1. I wonder why there's so much ore of it these days? We live in a hot climate so I think that doesn't help us fight this war but the climate hasn't changed in the UK.

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